Electrical cables can include one or more wires that terminate at connectors. Further, the connectors used for many electrical cables are circular connectors. Examples of circular connectors commonly utilized in various industries, such as the aerospace industry, are Long Junior Tri-Lock (LJT) connectors or D38999 connectors.
Electrical cables oftentimes include shields; for instance, wire(s) of a cable can be enclosed within a shield, where the shield is a conductive layer. Shields help to electrically isolate signals from each other. Thus, a shield can mitigate electromagnetic interference (EMI) (e.g., outside noise that penetrates and couples onto signals within a cable) and/or electromagnetic radiation (EMR) (e.g., signals within a cable that escape and radiate elsewhere). Examples of shields include braided metal shields and non-braided spiral metal shields. Shields can be formed of cooper, aluminum, silver, or other types of conductors.
Conventionally, backshells are utilized to terminate shielded cables to circular connectors. A backshell can allow for a metal enclosure or casing to be around signal carrying wire(s) from a shield to a connector, which can minimize EMI and EMR. Thus, the backshell and the shield can act as a Faraday cage to reduce EMI and EMR. Bridging of the shield to the connector without leaving a gap can be referred to as 360 degree shield termination.
Some electrical cables may include more than one wire bundle that exit the connector. Each of the wire bundles can be within respective shields. Conventional approaches for terminating multiple shielded wire bundles to a single connector, however, can be difficult and time consuming (e.g., shields may be joined by soldering, multi-piece backshells may be soldered). Moreover, such traditional approaches may be subject to failure (e.g., flux used for soldering may potentially migrate towards contacts and pose a corrosion risk) and occupy relatively large potting volumes (e.g., which impact space and weight of the overall assembly). The potting volume refers to a shape and size of a cable-to-connector transition behind a connector.